Surprising Circumstances
by Anya Maygo
Summary: Just because this character's named Yumi doesn't mean she came from some other TV show - that just happened to be the name I liked best. In short, I OWN NOTHING!
1. First Visit to the Host Club!

**_First Visit to the Host Club!_**

_Along with Haruhi Fujioka, I was the only other student to receive the honor of going to Ouran Academy. My reasons…I wanted to be an author. But I needed experience in writing actual books, and I wanted to get to know higher-ranked people who could potentially help me get published._

_This could be my first published work._

* * *

**Yumi**

I hadn't heard from Haruhi in a couple of days. I didn't know what was up, so I finally ran next door to talk to her.

She invited me in, but she looked a little bummed.

"So…what's happening?"

"I got railroaded."

"Huh?"

"I was trying to find a quiet place to study…and I found the Host Club instead."

"The…Host Club?"

"Yeah; I ended up breaking a vase in there. Now I have to work in the Host Club to pay off my debt…" She pulled a boy's school uniform out of her closet. "…As a host."

"Wait…what?"

"They thought I was a boy. Tamaki-sempai was the last one to figure out that I was actually a girl."

"And…you're still working as a boy?"

"Sempai doesn't like it, but there's not much he can do about it if my debt's to be paid off. Anyway," Haruhi turned her attention back to me, "do you think you could do me a favor?"

"I'm listening…"

"Could you come to the Host Club and request me as your host? I need to collect a thousand customers before they'll call my debt paid off."

It was as if my world had come to a complete halt. Haruhi had barely described the Host Club, and it already sounded like exactly the kind of club I'd _avoid!_ Handsome men, beautiful girls, tea parties, flowery talk –

"You _did_ finish your replica of the girls' uniform, right? You could wear it to the Host Club."

That brought my world into motion again. I'm a pretty good knitter and seamstress. "It's almost done. I've just got a few touches to make to it to make the skirt fall right."

"Great! So…can I expect you?"

I hesitated. "Um…okay. How about…two days from now?"

"It's a date! Three o' clock in Music Room Three." Haruhi shook hands with me.

I nodded to her. "Two days from now…" I turned towards the door. "Gotta finish that dress…make a note to myself in my planner…" I looked back with my hand on the doorknob. "…I'm going to watch _Cats._"

My ultimate favorite musical, I'd gone out of my way and saved up my money so that I could buy a copy of the video version. If I was stressed, I liked watching it. Haruhi knew that; she laughed a little. "Sorry to throw this on you, but I really do need your help."

I cocked an eyebrow at her. "You'll owe me big time for this; it's not really my style."

"I know. I'll think of something."

I didn't sleep for the next two nights, because I was trying to finish the dress. Finally, it was done.

* * *

The day came. I woke up after a catnap, threw on the dress and started working on my hair. _If I'm going to visit a Host Club, I need to look extra nice and not just turn up with my hair in a bun._

I finished braiding my hair and tying the braids up with a ribbon. Then I looked at the clock.

"YIKES! If I don't run now, I'll be late!" I grabbed my bag and tore out.

The morning went about how I'd expect, with the exception of a couple of girls complimenting my hairstyle. I'm not entirely sure how my classes went; I was starting to get a bit hazy.

At lunchtime, I discovered a problem: the food here was expensive, and I'd forgotten to pack my lunch. Plus, I hadn't eaten breakfast.

_This could cause some interesting interactions at the club._

* * *

Three o'clock rolled around and I climbed to the third music room. It took longer than I thought it would, probably because of how heavy my legs and head felt, but I finally made it.

…At three fifteen. I'd timed it wrong. By the time I went in, the parties were already well underway. Oh, well, no matter. I scoped around, trying to spot Haruhi.

There she was – already talking to a few girls. Well, I could wait. I found an unoccupied chair away from everything and just sat down, trying to look more alert than I had in class.

I sat there for a half hour that felt longer, and nobody noticed me, not even Haruhi. Finally, I gave up and stood up to leave.

**Haruhi**

Somebody shrieked, and I looked up. A girl had just fainted, and the entire Host Club was gathering around her. Kyoya-sempai was saying something about not recognizing her, and so she was probably a new customer.

I walked over to look. She wasn't much different from any of the other girls here, and I'd even seen her come in. About the only difference was that her brown hair was in about three braids that looped around and up, the ends hiding behind a yellow hair ribbon tied in a bow.

Suddenly, I realized that that wasn't _three_ braids: it was one, spiraled around in three loops. And with a sinking feeling, I realized I knew who this was. I dropped to my knees. "Yumi! Yumi, I'm so sorry I didn't recognize you!"

"You know this girl?" Hikaru and Kaoru asked at the same time.

Tamaki-sempai took charge. "Mori-sempai, carry her to one of the sofas! Kyoya, call the nurse!"

_I don't think I'll tell Yumi anything that happened while she was unconscious._

While she was still in Mori-sempai's arms and moving towards the sofa, she started waking up. It was a good thing that everything happened quickly in regards to the Host Club, because that was about the time that the nurse got here.

Tamaki-sempai had arranged for Yumi to be in his lap. Frankly, it was a good thing she was still out of it, because she wouldn't have taken that well.

"So what happened?" was the first thing the nurse asked.

One of the other girls answered. "I was looking. She stood up, set her hand to her head, and then just collapsed!"

Yumi finally spoke, her voice a weak imitation of her usual tone. "Hey, I'm okay…I just got a bit dizzy, that's all."

I spoke up. "Yumi, the nurse is right here. You might as well tell her if something's wrong."

"Haruhi? Nothing's wrong; I didn't sleep well the past couple of nights and missed two meals today, that's all."

Then it was the nurse's turn to give orders. "Maybe you should be taken home, then."

That sparked a reaction from Yumi that I'd been more or less expecting. She straightened up, catching hold of Sempai's tie to keep her upright, looked right at the nurse, and stated in a stronger voice that I suspected was taking effort to maintain, "I'm fine. I don't have to go home. My parents have enough to worry about as it is without my coming home in the middle of the day."

"In that case, make sure you eat something…something besides cake," and she cast a slightly critical eye over the table, "and get some rest. You still should be taken home as opposed to you going home by yourself."

"Okay."

The nurse left, and Yumi relaxed again, outright sprawling across Tamaki-sempai's lap. She apparently was slightly worse off than she was trying to let on.

Sempai helped her onto the end of the sofa, which got her off his lap and into a more reclined position. I apologized again for not recognizing her.

"It's okay. You never saw me with this particular look, so how could you have realized it was me?" Yumi's eyes were closed, apparently trying to rest.

"To answer your question," I finally turned to answer the twins, "yes, I know her. Her name's Yumi Kataneki, and she lives next door to me."

"Oh, now I remember," Kyoya-sempai opened his black book. "She came on the same scholarship as you did, and from the same school. Her grades were high enough by a decent margin to qualify, but there's not much information about her beyond that she's your friend."

_Great._

Yumi turned and blinked at Kyoya-sempai. "You're cute."

_That's it – she's delusional; she wouldn't normally have said that even if she _was_ thinking it._

* * *

**Yumi**

That was an interesting session. Three different guys were waiting on me hand and foot – or was it four? I was having a little trouble counting. Haruhi was mostly just standing there looking embarrassed.

The guy I'd called cute – he introduced himself as Kyoya, and mentioned that he was a second-year – he drove me home after class, helped me back to my apartment and left me wondering how he'd gotten my address.

He really was a handsome boy…and he was quite the mystery. I might just go back there sometime after my recovery and observe him, and all the Host Club. They were certainly interesting characters…


	2. Surprise Visits

**_Surprise Visits_**

* * *

**Yumi**

A couple of weeks had passed since that completely mortifying incident, and I'd become a regular customer of the Host Club. Not that I buy anything, so I don't understand why they call visitors "customers." I usually requested Haruhi.

Actually, I always requested Haruhi. I sometimes considered requesting one of the boys, but the idea still drove me wild with nerves.

* * *

**Haruhi**

I couldn't believe that the Host Club actually came to visit me at my house! It got even more embarrassing when my dad got home.

Then I heard strains of "Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats" through the wall. _Oh, Yumi must be worried about some upcoming exam._ Sometimes she plays the video too loud; usually I banged on the wall to quiet her down. This time…hmm…

"If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go visit Yumi." I stood up to leave.

"Can we come with you?" Tamaki-sempai immediately jumped up.

"I agree, actually," Kyoya-sempai suddenly said. "I've noticed that while Yumi's become a regular customer, she still hasn't truly shown signs of enjoying herself. There must be something we can do to help her relax."

"Well…okay."

We all left and walked over to her door.

"What's that sound?" Kaoru asked.

"Yumi's watching a movie; sometimes she turns the volume too high." I banged on the door. "Yumi, it's me, Haruhi!"

The music didn't stop, but I knew Yumi and her sense of timing. I listened carefully to the song, holding up a hand to silence the boys.

"_Jellicle Cats are queen of the nights,_

_Singing at astronomical heights!_

_Handling pieces from the Messiah,_

_Halleluiah – angelical choir…_"

Right on a bang in the music that silenced the singing, the door opened suddenly.

Yumi was standing there, in a short-sleeved shirt, knee-length pants and bare feet, with her hair hanging as loose as she ever leaves it when I see her: one braid dangling to a point about even with her knees.

And like the music, she came to a full halt. I swear that her face went dead white at the sight of the Host Club behind me.

I could tell she was relying on the movie to start her back up again, because as soon as the song started again, she plastered a smile on her face and, with a swing of her arm, invited us in.

Normally, I don't read subtext from expressions very well. But the message that Yumi was sending me right then was pretty obvious: _**You are so going to pay for this one.**_

_Wonderful; as if I wasn't _already_ in debt._

We all sat together watching _Cats._ "I'll have you guys know," I added to the Host Club, "she dances to this movie."

**Yumi**

I couldn't believe that Haruhi dragged the Host Club to my house! Still…when it came right down to it, her timing wasn't bad: I could ignore their presence pretty quickly.

* * *

Throughout the movie, I danced and made oblique remarks about how different members of the Host Club reminded me of certain cats. And yes, I was pretending that the only person there was Haruhi.

I will be the first to admit that my behavior during "Magical Mister Mistoffelees" is completely shameless. Can I help it if I really like that tuxedo tomcat?

Around "The Addressing of Cats," I…sensed, I suppose is the word…that somebody was staring at my hair. Well, staring is probably the wrong word. Whoever it was, he'd been periodically glancing my way through the whole movie. Right on the last beat of the music, I looked back.

Kyoya-sempai, apparently sensing he'd been caught, turned his attention to something in his little black book.

"Surprised?"

"Not really; it's an excellent musical."

"I meant my hair."

He stopped moving his pen and, of all things, blushed! Had I actually succeeded in embarrassing _Kyoya_-sempai? "I don't mean to be rude…"

"It's okay, sempai. Anyone who first sees me with my hair down has stared at me for a good five minutes afterward. Haruhi did."

"Yumi-chan, your hair's amazing!"

I felt somebody lift up my braid. Thanks to that look behind me, I was pretty sure that was one of the Hitachiin brothers. Just don't ask me which one. "You could use this thing like a whip!"

"Sometimes I do. Sometimes I even pretend it's a tail. Mostly I tie it up, though."

"Why?" That was the other twin. "It looks amazing!"

I rolled my eyes and turned around. "Oh, and _you'd_ traverse the school with a python hanging from the back of your head?"

I…think it was Hikaru holding onto my braid. He still was, and now the two of them were staring at each other. _I'm going to hear something about what I'd said in three…two…one…_

"Traverse?"

I sighed. But before I could say anything, Kyoya-sempai spoke up. "We are in the presence of an aspiring writer."

I twisted to look at him, making my braid fall from Hikaru's hand. He was flipping through some papers I'd left on the table and forgotten about. "Ah…it's a work in progress."

"So I can see."

I felt my face getting hot. I don't show my work to just _anyone_, because I have a bit of trouble taking criticism: if a compliment isn't made first, then my project has failed. I doubted that Kyoya-sempai knew that, though. In another minute, he was going to say something about my work that just shatters my shaky confidence in that book.

For a long minute, the only sound in the apartment was the turning of pages. At that moment, I couldn't remember which book I'd been working on before I opted to watch _Cats_.

Then he spoke. And it wasn't what I was expecting to hear.

"So what happens to Mina?"

_Oh, that one – the book about the girl who falls into a strange new world and wants nothing more than to get home again. A common theme, but I plan on ending it differently._

"Um…I'm still working on that, but the gist is she stays in that world."

His eyebrows went up. "She doesn't seem very happy with her surroundings right now."

"That changes…somehow. Like I said, I haven't quite gotten that far yet."

He stayed quiet for another minute. Then he said, "I think I would like to see more of this…as you write it, of course."

Of all the things I'd been expecting to hear him say, that wasn't one of them. Yet, I liked it!

* * *

**A/N: The Cats musical and Yumi's comparing the Host Club to different cats from it is important! ^_^**


	3. Jellicle Host Club!

**_Jellicle Host Club!_**

* * *

**Yumi**

We fell into a kind of routine after that, Kyoya-senpai and I; I'd write, and then bring him the current draft to read, and he'd mark it up like my teachers with points that I'd either forgotten to mention or circling simple, trying-to-write-while-sleepy errors.

And, somewhere in the middle of that, I'd started occasionally requesting him as well as Haruhi.

I also started periodically bringing my _Cats_ piano book to school, so I could practice properly. I'd learned to play the piano back when I was ten, but my parents couldn't afford to buy a piano for me, so I always had to practice at school. My favorite song to play was, of course, "Magical Mister Mistoffelees."

* * *

Finally, my book was finished to both my standards and Kyoya-senpai's. Just today, he handed back the binder I'd given him with the book. "It's got no problems that I can find."

"Yeah…" I took the binder back and sighed. "Too bad it'll never get published. I'm just too shy to do anything with it." Then I started walking away.

But before I got out of earshot, I heard Kyoya-senpai say, almost to himself, "An interesting opinion, in its own way."

* * *

FIVE DAYS LATER

I all but skipped up the stairs. I'd woken up feeling ridiculously good, and nothing about the school had changed that. I'd told myself a million times that I was going to request Kyoya-senpai today, even though we weren't working together anymore. My heart was pounding extraordinarily loudly, but I was telling myself that it was excitement, _not_ nervousness.

I'm not sure I believed myself.

Then I opened the door.

"_**Welcome!**_"

I stopped dead in my tracks.

The Host Club was indeed sitting there…but the new décor was, um…if a junkyard could be fashionable, this was probably what it would look like: chairs, tables, wheels and even part of a car (probably a stage prop) piled haphazardly around the room, but all of it was still in pretty good condition and fancy.

And that was just the _room!_ Every single member of the Host Club was wearing cat-suit leotards, makeup and wigs, and not just _any_ cats:

Tamaki-senpai was boldest, with a large gold mane, white leotard-suit and fancy belt and collar – **the Rum Tum Tugger**.

Mori-senpai's makeup almost made him look evil, but his color scheme had more white than red – **Plato**.

Honey-senpai was, to put it bluntly, adorable with his big eyes emphasized, and the spiky collar and mostly-black leotard did nothing to change that – **Jemima**.

Hikaru and Kaoru were now nearly impossible to tell apart with matching tabby leotards, though one had slightly more white than the other – **Mungojerrie and Rumpleteaser**.

Haruhi was most definitely **Quaxo** as defined by the movie, with a tuxedo-styled leotard, white legwarmers, one white armwarmer and one black, and a black wig.

Kyoya-senpai was a ginger cat with a vest, brown tail, and bell collar – **Skimbleshanks.**

_They'd been paying attention to my comparisons?_ I still remembered a lot of what I said:

"_If Honey-senpai was a girl, he'd be a perfect Jemima with the size of his eyes."_

"_The easiest cat I can compare Mori-senpai to would be Plato: big, strong, doesn't really say much."_

"_Tugger is a total ladies' tom, and completely over-the-top…kind of like Tamaki-senpai."_

"_Mungo and Teaser are so mischievous, just like Hikaru and Kaoru. I…think that when it comes right down to it, Rumpleteaser is a bit more playful than Mungojerrie." I still couldn't tell them apart, but I knew one of them was more assertive than the other._

"_Haruhi, right now, makes me think of Quaxo. I mean, Quaxo is Mister Mistoffelees' alter ego, and Haruhi is pretending to be a boy."_

"_The only cat I can readily compare Kyoya-senpai to is Skimbleshanks…but I'm still having a bit of trouble seeing it. Sure, he's serious, dignified and focused, but he also…I'm hard put, right now anyway, to say that Kyoya-senpai has a sense of humor. Skimble has one."_

Kyoya-senpai was the one who shocked me the most right now. He'd actually dropped his dignity level low enough to wear an orange leotard-suit, bell collar and face paint?

I just stood there for a long minute with my mouth hanging open. My bag had already hit the floor. Everything just went quiet for that minute. Haruhi was starting to look worried.

The next reaction came when I finally closed my mouth. I could feel something bubbling up in my throat, trying to escape. Then it burst out.

I started laughing.

* * *

**Kyoya**

I think this was the first time I had actually heard Yumi laugh. She had a nice laugh. I wonder why she doesn't laugh more often.

Hikaru, Kaoru, and Honey-senpai then proceeded to chase Yumi around the room, just as they had with Haruhi that day when we'd all dressed as women. One of the twins managed to grab her hair ribbon, and the other started pretending to try to catch her braid as it fell loose.

"Well," I made a note in my book, "it appears your plan to help Yumi relax more while at the club was a success, Tamaki."

"Of course it was!" Tamaki smoothed his wig. "She is so obviously a fan of this musical, there was no way it _wouldn't_ be a success!"

Haruhi rolled her eyes, which with her current makeup job just looked amusing.

Then Yumi ran over to us again, hiding behind Mori-senpai in a still-laughing attempt to hide from her pursuers. Honey-senpai went along with that and jumped happily into Mori-senpai's arms. The twins dodged around either side of him and she all but fell into Tamaki's lap in her next attempt to avoid them.

"Steady, there, Yumi!" Tamaki gave a tug to her braid, yanking it loose – she'd fallen on top of it in such a way that it was pulled tight, making her bend her head back. "Hikaru, Kaoru, I think you've got some _other _guests to entertain."

They both saluted him. "Yes, boss!" Then they both turned one cartwheel each and ran over to their chairs.

Yumi started gasping, trying to get her breath back and drying her eyes with her hair. "I can't believe you people had been paying attention to what I was rambling about that day!"

Tamaki pushed her upright again so that she was sitting in his lap instead of sprawled across it. "It seemed like a good idea. You're having fun today, aren't you?"

"Yeah!" Then she slid off his lap and looked across at Hikaru and Kaoru. "Which one's Jerrie and which one's Teaser?"

I answered her. "Hikaru decided that with your description of those two, he'd be better off as Rumpleteaser."

"Hikaru's Rumpleteaser, got it." The look on her face made me think that there was going to be someone else who can readily tell the twins apart in another couple of days.

"So, um, Kyoya-senpai…"

I looked over at her. Her expression was somewhere between confused and something else I couldn't identify.

"…You went with Skimbleshanks?"

I shrugged. "It was Tamaki's idea that we all dress as cats from the musical, and that _was_ the only cat you could compare to me."

She cocked her head, looking a bit…I suppose sheepish would be the right word. "Yeah, but you're…honestly, what gave me trouble is that technically _none_ of the cats from the musical truly fit you. Well…except for Mistoffelees with some of his personality traits: sometimes you're vague in spoken answers, and you've struck me as being aloof, a little stand-offish, dark and mysterious..." She seemed to notice where she was going with her words and tried to backpedal. "But I'd effectively already said that Haruhi was Misto, so I couldn't mention _that, I don't know…_" Then she looked down at her shoes. "Here I am sounding like some kind of…I don't know, but I'm analyzing your personality to your face. I don't normally do stuff like that."

_Did she just compare me to her Cats Musical love interest?_ I just looked at her for a minute. She'd lifted her foot and started tapping one toe on the floor, which explained why the very end of that shoe was scuffed more than the rest of the surface area combined. That, evidently, was something she did when she was nervous or uncomfortable.

"I don't mind. Becoming practiced in describing someone's character as you see it is a decent step towards developing complex characters in books."

Yumi looked up again. "Thanks. That makes me feel better." Then she looked around with a mock-glare. "Now, did you catch which twin had grabbed my hair ribbon?"

I laughed softly and shook my head as she stormed off in the twins' direction in a manner so over-the-top that it had to be a put-on. "She has definitely warmed up to the Host Club. And it only took one afternoon." I turned several pages in my book to look at the back cover, or rather, what was between the pages and the back cover. "I wonder when I should show this to her…"


	4. Happy Birthday, Yumi!

**_Happy Birthday, Yumi!_**

* * *

**Yumi**

I had no idea what was going to happen during the summer, beyond that I was staying at the same summer house that Haruhi was working at.

So imagine my surprise when the Host Club turned up!

I didn't really pay attention to what they were doing, beyond that they all – or at least most of them – wanted to stay here with Haruhi, and so were having a Refreshing Contest or some such thing. I remember continuously catching Kyoya-senpai looking at me. (Say that five times fast: continuously catching Kyoya!)

Like I said, not a whole ton going on around me, or at least, not until about a week after that crazy contest.

* * *

About a week after the contest, I came down the stairs to…

The craziest party I'd ever seen outside of the Host Club!

Though, when it came right down to it, the party had clearly been arranged by the Host Club, so what do you want?

The most noticeable thing about the party – after I'd recovered from the confetti guns, that is – was a big banner strung up across the room that read "Happy Birthday, Yumi-chan!" Clearly, Honey-senpai had written that.

I glanced across the room at Kyoya-senpai. He was pretending that he had nothing to do with the party. _**RIGHT…**_Like I was going to buy that – I hadn't said a word about what day my birthday was!

Oh, I was excited, all right: I'd never had a birthday party in my life because my parents have always been too busy!

I ran around the room and hugged both twins and Honey-senpai. I even jumped into Mori-senpai's arms! I didn't hug Tamaki-senpai because, frankly, even with the _Cats_ cosplay they'd had in school, I wasn't entirely comfortable around him. I didn't hug Haruhi because she wasn't there, and I wasn't going to make Kyoya-senpai drop his notebook.

Most of the party went without a hitch. We played child's party games, had – of course – cake, and Haruhi came back in. Then Tamaki-senpai handed me his present. I looked back and forth between him and the present. _Is he expecting me to open this to his face?_

"Go on, open it!"

_Okay, he wants me to open this to his face._ I plucked carefully at the wrapping. _He must be extraordinarily sure that I'll like it._ Normally I stick to the custom of not opening a gift to the giver's face, because it takes away the pressure of telling them that I like it even if I don't.

_If I don't like this, he's getting it back._

In the box was a dress. At least, that's what I assumed was in the box, when it was all folded up like that: a pink dress.

My eyebrow twitched at the thought of giving _this_ back to Tamaki-senpai. Would he feel compelled to wear it himself?

I looked up at them, and then pulled the dress out of the box. The box fell to the floor at my feet with the hem of the skirt following it. It shimmered like silk, meaning coming from a rich boy it probably was, and it was a near-shapeless length with barely any distinction at the waist and no sleeves, just bare ropes.

Those, um, stand-ins for sleeves gave me pause. Then again, how was he to know I didn't have any strapless bras?

The twins both looked enthused by the thing, so I rolled my eyes, slung it over my shoulder, and walked off to find a quiet place to change into it. Then I glanced back. "Just so the rest of you know, I usually avoid opening presents in front of the giver."

I closed the door behind me and heard something clatter. Probably either Honey-senpai or one of the twins had dashed for a different door and tripped over a chair.

Once in a quiet room without any windows, I studied the dress a little more carefully. It looked similar to a dress that Haruhi had worn once since coming here. Virtually there were only two differences between the dresses: the waistline and the thickness of the shoulder straps.

I decided to ditch the bra as well. Who was going to tell those boys?

When I shivered into the dress, I stared down at myself in wonder – it fit! Tamaki-senpai couldn't have gotten that information from Haruhi, because I doubted Haruhi even knew!

_Kyoya-senpai? Possibly; it's amazing what you can find on the Internet._

I started struggling to get my hair out of its braided bun. It had been so long since I'd worn my hair loose, but a bun or a braid wouldn't work with this dress. My other problem was that I didn't have a comb or anything.

Then the door opened behind me. "I figured you'd want your hair down," Haruhi's voice floated in, "so I brought you your comb."

"Thanks…um…could you comb my hair out, too? I don't want to leave those boys waiting too long."

"Don't worry," though she did start combing my hair, "you'd only be making Tamaki-senpai wait. Everyone else has left the room, and they won't come back until you've finished opening their presents."

"So I'll – ow! – Be getting several different reactions to how the dress looks on me."

"Yeah."

* * *

Finally, my hair was loose and as straight as hours in a braid would leave it, and I went back into the party room.

Sure enough, Tamaki-senpai was the only one sitting there, sipping some tea, but he jumped up almost immediately to sing my praises. I rolled my eyes again as he walked over to me with another present. "This one is from Hikaru and Kaoru together."

That one turned out to be a set of sketch pencils with a pad of white paper. One of them had evidently noticed my art around my apartment.

"Now how did they know that my art supplies were running out?" I set them aside with a smile. "Are they coming back?"

"Yes, now that you've opened their gift."

_Translation: they were listening at the door._

Yup: they came in right around then – and stopped cold at the sight of me. Then they spoke as one: "You look _stunning!_"

I would have said that Tamaki-senpai had put them up to saying that, but there was no faking the look of astonishment fading into impressed delight that was on both of their faces.

Honey-senpai and Mori-senpai had opted to give me the same present also. They'd gotten me a snow globe with a figurine of a tuxedo cat inside. _Mister Mistoffelees. Of course._

"It's beautiful!" I said, loudly enough so the eavesdroppers at the door could hear. And when they came in…I think that's the closest that I've ever seen Mori-senpai come to losing his composed, neutral expression! Honey-senpai was less restrained: he outright yelled, "You look _amazing_, Yumi-chan!"

Then Kyoya-senpai's gift was handed to me. I honestly didn't think it would be much; it was obviously a book.

Then I opened it and came to a full halt.

_The Glow of the Darker Realms,_ read the title, _by Kazeriu Mystery._

Kazeriu Mystery…was my penname. _The Glow of the Darker Realms_…was the book Kyoya-senpai and I had been working on together for about a month.

Hesitantly, I opened the cover and flipped to find the acknowledgement page.

There it was. Written on it was:

_Many thanks to all who gave me inspiration, and to my co-writer, Kyoya Otori._

All I could say out loud was, in a near-whisper, "Senpai's got a lot of nerve to write that. I don't even refer to him as…"

Then I spoke up louder. "You can come in now, senpai."

As he walked in, he was talking. I could tell the exact moment when he looked at me, and readers, you will see it, too. "I hope you won't mind that I took the liberty of publishing your book. It was little enough for me to do, and it's already becoming quite a hit. You hadn't written an acknowledgement page, so I – Yumi, you're _beautiful!_"

I walked up to him – running wasn't an option in that dress, though I dearly wanted to – and hugged him. "Thank you, senpai!"


	5. A Long-Haired Spy

_**A Long-Haired Spy**_

* * *

**Yumi**

Shopping was never that big a deal to me since I earned my own money. Personally, I was amazed that Kyoya-senpai had confronted Haruhi over her job at the cottage, and he hadn't found out about my summer job.

Or…maybe he _had_ found out, and he was just choosing not to mention it. I don't know which would have worried me more.

While I was wandering the supermarket one day, I noticed Haruhi doing the same thing…in the company of Kyoya-senpai!

I stayed unobtrusive, but I couldn't help but spy on them a little. After all, um… (You know what? I'm not even going to try to justify myself. I still haven't figured out the reason for my actions that day.)

* * *

It wasn't until later that we found the rest of the Host Club. "Later" involved Tamaki-senpai all but humiliating Kyoya-senpai by announcing a missing-persons call over the loudspeaker. Personally, I was amazed that Tamaki-senpai managed to lose Kyoya-senpai in the first place, and followed after to find out how in the world that had happened.

When we found the Host Club, I didn't know what to make of Tamaki-senpai: he'd gone and bought a dog – a living, breathing Golden Retriever – as an _impulse buy._ Pets can't be impulse buys!

…Well…unless you're rich, I guess.

He'd better hire a really good dog trainer, though, or he was going to get trampled by the thing a lot. At least it really liked him.

Haruhi left to finish her shopping, leaving me standing there near the club and unsure what to do next.

Honey-senpai solved my dilemma. "Yumi-chan! Are you here to shop, too?"

"Uh…yeah."

Then Kyoya-senpai demonstrated that just because he looked like he'd just rolled out of bed didn't mean he wasn't observant. "She's been trailing Haruhi and me this whole time."

"I, um…" I looked away, feeling a blush coming on. "I was wondering how in the world, um, five boys can lose a sixth party and not even notice."

Kyoya-senpai answered me. "It was probably part excitement and part Tamaki."

I figured he meant that Tamaki-senpai seems to be a naturally, um…dense…person. And if everyone else was excited enough, they wouldn't notice that they'd left Kyoya-senpai behind. "I see."

"I'd be surprised if you actually did." Kyoya-senpai smiled at me, though. That was something, I suppose.

* * *

**A/N: This chapter's fairly short, mostly because I hadn't truly thought it through.**


	6. A Chance to Show Off

_**A Chance to Show Off**_

* * *

**Yumi**

A few weeks later, I heard that the Lobelia Girls' Academy representatives had abducted Haruhi!

With that information, I just sighed. _Enough is enough._

I slipped into their school undercover, wearing my black leggings and a dark shirt. Prowling around darkened hallways, I wound up taking a couple of wrong turns before I finally heard near-screaming and followed that to an auditorium.

And what a sight met my eyes: a girl in a bright pink dress with highly-styled hair and way too much makeup was running back and forth across the stage, being chased by what looked like half of Lobelia's students, while about half the Host Club watched in bemusement.

I tugged at my hair tie and pulled two braids loose. I'd bound my hair into three braids and then spun them all into a single rope, because I figured I'd be doing something like right now. The way I bound the tip of one braid was making sure there was a decent loop of braid at the end, just big enough to slip over someone's hand. The other braid I just bound up normally.

Then I stepped onto the edge of the stage, started spinning the loop, and called, "Haruhi – right hand up!"

The pink-garbed runner near-automatically let go of her skirt with her right hand and held it up.

I waited for her to come back around and then let my braided loop fly!

It dropped neatly around Haruhi's wrist, and I yanked her out of the way of the chasers and practically right into my arms. "Who destroyed you?!" I asked.

Before Haruhi could answer, the tallest of the chasers – clearly the starring "male" role in their skit if the purple suit was anything to go by – lunged for me. "Get your hands off of my Haruhi!"

_Funny, she sounds like Tamaki-senpai._

I caught a different free braid, swung it around and cracked the woman one on her outstretched hand.

Everything came to a complete halt.

"Listen," I hissed, surprising even myself at the venom in my voice, "I don't know who you are, and I don't care. Haruhi doesn't want to be here, she doesn't need to be here, and she isn't 'yours'! And if that's the way you think, then you're worse than Tamaki-senpai!"

Oh, the look that was on her face as she near-recoiled from me! She looked like I'd just slapped her!

So I decided to keep talking. "You barge in on her life, you don't take no for an answer, and you're talking as if you think Haruhi's your soul mate – which, as you're the same gender as Haruhi, I highly disapprove! Now do us all a favor," I drew my braid back in a windup, "and _get out of Haruhi Fujioka's life!_" My braid smacked the woman once on each side of her face, and I finished as I turned away, "**And stay out!** Come on, Haruhi, let's get you changed out of that pink monstrosity."

* * *

Later, the Host Club gathered around me. All of them wanted to know how I did that.

I tugged a braid. "Well…I don't like to brag, but…I really have been practicing doing stuff with my braids, ever since I grew my hair this long. If you want to see some of the stuff I've been doing…" all of them looked interested, "…then I'll need seven cans of soda, some paper cups set into a pyramid, a tower of blocks and…lots of space to move."

* * *

The next day, I found that the Host Club had arranged an open space in the middle of their room, with all the stuff I'd requested set up. I myself was already prepared by having my hair in two braids.

I studied the setup, orienting myself, ignoring Tamaki-senpai's announcement to their guests.

Silence fell when I gathered my braids into my hands, gripping them probably about midway, at highest a third away from my head. I started to make them spin…

And then I sprang into action!

My first target was the block tower. Someone – probably Mori-senpai – had stacked them as tall as me, and this wasn't counting that they'd put it on a table. I started smacking the blocks out of the middle of the tower, adding an extra spin from whichever braid wasn't hitting the block _out_ so that it hit the block _down_ and not towards the guests. The result was that the one big tower ended up two shorter towers on either side of me! (That one, I hadn't been consciously trying to do.)

Next, I spun over to the pyramid of cups. With several well-placed snaps, I sent some of the cups flying – without knocking the whole pyramid down.

For my big finale, I ran to the table of sodas, twirled my braids, and managed to grab each can – two at a time at first, down to the last one – and send them towards the Host Club!

Most of them caught the cans just fine. Kyoya-senpai, Honey-senpai and Mori-senpai did the best at that while at the same time making it look easy. Haruhi, Hikaru and Kaoru all managed to catch theirs, though they looked a little panicked. Tamaki-senpai didn't manage to grab the can until after it hit his chest. At least it was only his chest and not his face.

I spun my braids a few more times, let go and let them spin around my arms, and curtsied to my audience.

And I got the most incredible amount of applause.


	7. Halloween Cat

**_Halloween Cat_**

* * *

**Yumi**

Finally, my favorite day of the year came, or at least one of my favorites: Halloween!

I was jittery all through class, and even part of my time at the Host Club, because I was going to run off and get into costume right after the Host Club closed.

_A Fear Contest – if there's one thing I know I can excel at, it's not panicking!_

* * *

The time came, and I ran off to the girls' locker room to get my costume out. I'd worked on the thing for months last year, and I was rather proud of it: a skin-tight catsuit, minus the tail, and a matching wig.

Using a belt and a collar, I tied my single braid down against my waist and neck. Then I slipped into my costume, aiming the braid through a single hole down low in the back and turning my hair into my tail. "Whew – it still fits!" Then I put on my makeup and finally strapped on the wig, looked in the mirror, and smiled. _Transformation complete: I'm officially a Jellicle Cat._

I left the girls' locker room, and found the lights were already turned off. Suited me just fine; I fell to all fours and started creeping about the school, waiting for someone to stumble around a corner and scare the pants off of.

I heard screams somewhere in the school, and headed in that direction, planning to turn the scarers into scaredy-cats.

* * *

I actually spent the entire night like that. I was only almost-startled once, and that was when I rounded a corner and spotted someone leaning against the wall reading a book by flashlight.

Whoever it was must have heard my small gasp, because the next moment the flashlight beam turned in my direction. I could almost see myself as the light-bearer saw me: a figure on all fours with one hand slightly upraised and a deer-in-the-headlights expression.

For a long minute, we just stared at each other. Thanks to the flashlight in my eyes, I couldn't see who was holding the thing.

Then I remembered to get back in character, got to hands and feet, hissed at whoever was holding the light, stood and ran the other way.

Good thing that I knew I was in a hallway, because I couldn't see a darn thing for the next few steps.

My hands collided with a wall, and I stopped to catch my breath and regain my night-sight. Then I thought about what was going on before I'd drawn attention to myself. The figure – who was wearing pants, if not the entire boys' school uniform – had been _reading._ I laid a bet with myself that that had been Kyoya-senpai.

_I probably won't find out for sure until tomorrow morning when and if he tells me that he saw my costume._

* * *

I didn't see any of the Host Club – or any _more_ of the Host Club, if that really had been Kyoya-senpai – until the next day. Evidently the entire first-year class except for me had lost the contest. Kaoru asked me once I found them, "How'd you avoid being spooked by Nekozawa's puppet in the courtyard?"

I stared at him for a second. Then I answered, "Because I hadn't gotten anywhere near the courtyard; I got lost."

That earned some laughs.

Then I felt a hand on my shoulder. "You know," Kyoya-senpai commented, "if you'd asked me, I could have directed you there."

I chose to randomly be coy. "I ran into you last night? How do you know?"

He smiled at me. "I doubt if any other student at this school will dress as a cat and wander the school grounds on hands and knees."

"Well, at least you just proved that you saw me. Were you the guy holding the flashlight, senpai? If that was you, you nearly blinded me."

He laughed a little. I guess he could tell I was kidding. "I must say, you definitely had practice in that character."

"The hiss? Yeah…" This conversation was going slowly down the drain for my being able to think of stuff to say. "Um…I've got to go. Later, senpai!" Though, I could still feel him staring at my back as I ran off.

_I wonder what he's thinking._


	8. Best Night Ever

**_Best Night Ever_**

* * *

**Yumi**

Finally the School Festival came. I donned my gift dress fairly early and then spent an entire hour and a half straightening my hair.

Yes, it takes me that long to straighten my hair, since I keep it in braids nearly all the time. But finally, it lay straight to…just _past_ my knees? When had it gotten _that_ long?

Ah, well. It's that long now. Who's worried? I was more concerned with how Kyoya-senpai would react to me in general.

* * *

I'd timed it so that I'd get there around the end, when all the dancing took place. I don't know why, I just didn't feel like showing up any earlier. Almost as soon as I got there, I was invited to dance by Tamaki-senpai.

"Not that I'm complaining," I accepted his offer, "but weren't you going to dance with Haruhi?" I already knew that Haruhi was dressed as a girl tonight.

"I figured I'd let Honey-senpai and Mori-senpai have their chances first."

_Translation: Honey-senpai got to Haruhi first._

* * *

It wasn't long before I got a chance to dance with Honey-senpai. His size and energy level meant there was a lot of spinning involved before he finally sent me spinning off to Mori-senpai.

Dancing with Mori-senpai was less my doing anything and more his directing me around, he was that strong and had that much control.

After Mori-senpai, I got to dance with both twins, one after the other. Hikaru had his arm in a sling for some reason. When I asked him about it, he said that it was because he, Kaoru and Haruhi had had to go chasing after Tamaki-senpai and he'd fallen out of their carriage. Go figure.

Finally, I got to dance with Kyoya-senpai. And I was left at a loss for words. I was in the arms of the one person in the whole entire world that I truly felt I belonged with, something I can say about no people I've ever crossed paths with or seen before, and I couldn't figure out how to tell him that.

Strangely enough, though, I didn't feel too bad about being quiet. At least, not at first; at first, I was just okay with being there with him smiling at me. But after a couple of minutes, I felt like I should say something.

"Um…"

He moved his hand away from my waist and set his finger against my lips. "You don't need to say anything. I know."

That brought me up short. I pulled his hand away from my mouth and cocked my head. "That cryptic statement either makes you a telepath or a ridiculously good guesser. What do you 'know'?"

He cocked an eyebrow at me. "That you have very strong feelings for me. I may not be a telepath, but this isn't a guess; it's a deduction. I've seen your work, and your leading man in the work I helped you publish bore strong resemblance in personality to me."

I tilted my head down while keeping my eyes on his face, blushing. "I…think I was half hoping you would notice, and half hoping you wouldn't."

Kyoya-senpai smiled at me. "It's why I gave it the dedication I did. And before you say a word about my father, I could care less what he thinks about my decision."

"Uh…what?"

"My decision, should you accept, to marry you."

It was as if my world had come to a complete halt. No, not really; but it did feel like I was suddenly having trouble breathing. "You…you have the same…"

He never let me finish the sentence. He chose to kiss me instead, and let that answer my unfinished question.

When we both came up for air, around the time the fireworks started going off, I gave him my answer: _yes._


End file.
